THIS IS WHATS CALLED BEATING A DEAD HORSE

Countries meddling in other countries election(s) is indisputably and acceptable practice and one that the US aggressively engages in probably more than any other country in the world.



Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea, Vietnam, Venezuela, Taiwan, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Panama, Chile, Brazil, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Lybia, Syria, Israel, Palestine, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Cuba, just to name a few.



So again, what's the big deal?



CIA director: US will retaliate if Russia targets the midterm elections



CIA Director Mike Pompeo just warned that the U.S. will retaliate against Russia if that nation attempts to interfere in this year's midterm elections.

The warning came on Monday, in an interview with the BBC's security correspondent, Gordon Corera.


Asked if he thought the Russians would target the midterms, Pompeo’s response was to the point.

"Of course, I have every expectation that they will continue to try and do that. But I'm confident that America will be able to have a free and fair election. That we'll push back in a way that is sufficiently robust, that the impact they will have on our election won't be that great."

The operative words there are: "we’ll push back in a way that is sufficiently robust."

Because that line strongly implies that the Trump administration has already made a decision to retaliate against any Russian effort to disrupt the election.

For a start, note that Pompeo’s is a declarative commitment: "we’ll push back," instead of an equivocating "we can push back if necessary" etc.

If meant seriously, such a policy would have to be authorized at the highest levels of the government. After all, only Trump could order retaliation to a Russian cyberattack or any other form of interference. Indeed, even if Trump has chosen to defer to Pompeo on any possible response, he has at least made that decision.

Yet it’s also interesting that Pompeo used the words "sufficiently robust." That language suggests a pretty aggressive counter-response to any Russian aggression.

What might this entail? In response to a query, the CIA told the Washington Examinerthat "we won’t be able to provide additional information beyond the Director’s remarks." That said, we can make some educated guesses.